Best Of Circumstances
by obsessedwithstabler
Summary: Who we are is not defined by how we act under normal circumstances, but how we react under pressure and change.


Hello, fellow Closer fans! I've been watching the show for the past few years on and off, and this is my first stab at writing a fanfiction story (though not my first idea). This idea came to me while watching the Charlie episodes. It falls somewhere in the timeline of Maternal Instincts, and follows the thought that Brenda can't have a child of her own. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

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How had they gotten to this point?

Brenda Johnson leaned against the wall, physically and emotionally drained. The past thirty-six hours had taken an enormous toll on everyone involved.

Just seven short months ago, Fritz had talked her into keeping her niece Charlie with them for the summer. To say that things hadn't gone according to plan was putting it very lightly. A few days after the death of a shooting victim Charlie had grown attached to, she went to her aunt and uncle and told them something no one had expected.

She was pregnant.

In that instant, everyone's lives had been turned upside down. Her parents refused to take her back, and her grandparents were reluctant to take her in. They had struggled enough when she was a moody teenager. There was no way they could handle a moody, _pregnant_ teenager. But despite the revelation, Fritz refused to even consider sending her anywhere else. They couldn't give up on her, too.

Brenda felt her husband come up behind her, and she welcomed his familiar embrace. "How's she doing?" she murmured, snuggling into his chest.

Fritz kissed the top of his wife's head. "As good as can be expected. So is the baby."

Brenda nodded. She and Fritz had spent most of the past thirty six hours by Charlie's side, watching as she labored to deliver her first child. She could still hear Charlie's screams, mixed with the doctor's triumphant cry, "It's a girl!"

"She wants to see you."She stiffened against him. "Fritzy…"

"At least hear her out, Brenda."

She didn't have to hear Charlie out. She knew exactly what Charlie, along with the entire family, was thinking. And she was hesitant about it. But she finally let Fritz pull her back into the Maternity Ward room, where their niece was resting comfortably.

At the intrusion, Charlie stirred. "Aunt Brenda?"

Brenda came closer to the bed. "I'm here, sweetie." Even though she was upset with the girl's choices, she still loved her. "I just saw your baby? She's-"

Charlie shook her head. "I don't wanna know," she whispered. She didn't want to form any kind of connection with the baby.

"Charlie…"

"Aunt Brenda, please." Charlie met Brenda's eyes. "I'm sixteen. I can't raise a baby. But you and Uncle Fritz…"

"You're her mother."

"So? I only had her because my family doesn't believe in abortion. They want me to give her up for adoption. But if you take her, you'll finally have a baby." She hadn't been so self involved that she missed her aunt's longing for a child. "You'll love her, and she'll be happy with you."

"You don't think she'd be happy with you?"

"I don't think I'm ready to be a mother."

Brenda breathed deeply. She would not deny that she was desperate for a baby, and this seemed like a too perfect solution for all involved. She and Fritz would adopt the baby, and Charlie could return to a semi-normal life, finish school, and move on. But there were so many questions. She'd just given birth. What if she wasn't thinking rationally? But that wasn't the case. She had brought this up before, mostly with Fritz, who seemed receptive to the whole thing. And what if Charlie changed her mind later down the road? That would devastate her.

Fritz was the one who broke the silence. As if reading his wife's thoughts, he gently told Charlie, "If we consider this, it's a permanent deal. She would be our child."

Charlie nodded. "I know."

He turned toward Brenda. "Brenda, you know how I feel about this." Maybe this was how everything was supposed to turn out. Sure, he wanted a child of his own flesh and bone, but he couldn't deny that he had fallen in love with the six pound, smushy little form wrapped in a soft pink blanket.

Silence befell the room as Charlie and Fritz both waited for Brenda to speak.

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Two days later, Fritz grinned as he held the door open for his wife. Behind them, the entire Major Crimes Division followed behind, with Buzz filming everything with his best equipment.

Banners and streamers decorated the living room, and presents were piled up on the coffee table. But Brenda didn't seem to notice as she carried the sleeping newborn to the room that had been hastily, but beautifully, transformed into a pink nursery.

Fritz held off her coworkers, sensing that she needed a few moments alone with the baby to assimilate to their new position.

Brenda walked around the room for a few minutes, just taking in their surroundings. A rocking chair had been positioned just so beside a window, and a changing table and crib were resting against the wall. Fritz had done most of the work, and with only two days to do it in, he'd done a beautiful job.

She looked down at the newborn nestled in her arms. Charlie had been released from the hospital and taken back home with her parents after signing all of the necessary paperwork allowing Fritz and Brenda to adopt her baby.

And Brenda was still in a daze.

The baby stirred in her arms, and Brenda gently shushed her. "It's alright, baby," she soothed, pacing slowly. "I know that you weren't exactly…expected… But you will never doubt that you are loved." She sighed softly, brushing her lips against the newborn's forehead. "You are my daughter, forever."

Slowly the newborn settled and looked up into her mother's face. Brenda smiled. "You belong right here, for the rest of time. I promise."

After a few more minutes of pacing and soft words, the newborn was lulled into a deep sleep. Brenda finally laid her new daughter in her crib, pausing long enough to give her another kiss.

"Good night, Angela. I love you."

The baby sighed in her sleep, and Brenda smiled before rejoining the rest of her family in her living room.

The End!

A/N: Like I said, not my first idea for a Closer story. Still hammering away at that one. LOL. Thanks for reading, and please review! :)


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